LEDs hit industrial price point

The cost of LED lighting should be coming down quickly. Carl Scianna, founder of Polybrite International, an Illinois startup, says the cost of individual white-light diodes, several of which go into an LED bulb and make up much of the cost, has fallen in price from about $US8 to $USI.50 in a year. "By the middle of next year, they’ll be priced for consumers," Scianna says. According to the The Australian, (15/5/2007), p.35, in the past two years, diodes had doubled in energy efficiency and brightness, according to Greg Merritt, marketing director for US LED manufacturer Cree.

LEDS now in standard fitting: In particular, LEDs that produce a yellowish, warm light similar to incandescents have improved. Dallas-based Lighting Science Group displayed a LED bulb that screws into a standard medium-sized socket and produces a warm light equivalent to that of a 25W incandescent bulb, but consumes just 5.8W. It costs $US50 ($60), which is hardly palatable to consumers who can buy a standard bulb for less than $1.

Last up to 50,000 hours;The energy-efficiency is no doubt a drawcard for commercial clients such as hotels, but LEDs have another big advantage: they last up to 50,000 hours, according to manufacturers. That compares with about 10,000 hours for fluorescents and 1000 hours for incandescents. Not having to send out staff to replace bulbs means big savings in maintenance costs. "Right now the applications that make sense are either big maintenance or high-power consumption, like parking garages, where the lights are on all the time," Merritt says.